Abstracts - Earli

interest. The repeated engagement with particular classes of content over time may lead to a welldevelopedinterest. Instructional conditions should facilitate both: The emerging and maintainingof situational interest by providing meaningful and personally involving activities and thedeepening of well-developed interest by providing room for interest-related activities andchallenging learning tasks. Building on these theoretical frameworks, this paper aims to highlightthe relationship between students historical interest and different features of history instruction inSwiss Secondary I classrooms (grade 9). Data collection for the present study included a sample of90 history classes and their teachers from the German part of Switzerland. Data analyses show thatstudents’ general interest in historical matters is on an average. Differences between school tracksand gender could be found. The comparison of students’ interest for historical themes and actualtopics taught in the 9th grade classrooms reveals that boys’ interest is better supported by currentinstruction. Students’ perceptions of interest supportive teaching features are rather positive andshow significant effects on students’ general interest. Video analyses of interest-supportiveconditions in current history lessons are under construction aiming to investigate the relationshipbetween students’ situational interest facilitated by instructional features and general historicalinterest.The best and worst events in Hungarian history: An analysis of Hungarian students’ views andexplanationsLászló Kinyó, University of Szeged, HungaryThe aim of this study is to examine some characteristics of students’ historical reasoning indifferent age groups, as well as the analysis of students’ views and causal explanations related toevents in Hungarian national history. The present paper integrates the narrative approach of socialrepresentation with several research trends on instruction targeting historical reasoning. The paperdiscusses (1) which events of Hungarian history are judged the most positive and negative bystudents; (2) students’ justifications for their choices; (3) the differences in the responses andexplanations which can be contributed to age, and (4) the relationship between the knowledge ofcollective narratives and students’ responses (i.e. missing, inappropriate, appropriate responses).414 primary school students (12-13-year-olds) and 428 secondary school students (16-17-yearolds)were included in the large scale survey. The components of the questionnaire were based onthe structure of an instrument developed by László, Ehmann and Imre (2002). The questionnairewas comprised of open response items. Event categories and argument categories were establishedin a process of content analysis. The relationships between category variables were defined usingcontingency tables. The samples were compared in a homogeneity analysis. The relations betweenvariables were explored with crosstable analyses. The results show significant differences (pEducation and expressive activity in formal and informal contextsGianni Nuti, University of Valle d’Aosta, ItalyTeresa Grange Sergi, University of Valle d’Aosta, ItalyThis research focuses on the studies in the curriculum (Frabboni 2002, Baldacci 2005) and its rolein school in the complete formation of the individual (Levine 2003, Wulf 1999, Cifali 1999). Thequantitative aim of this research is to measure and delineate, using a sample of over 2000 middlesecondaryschool students in Valle d’Aosta (Italy), the following: how expressive arts (music,dance, theatre, figurative arts, applied arts) are cultivated in non-formal learning ambits; what isthe current representation of the aforesaid at school and what measures are required in a formalreformed educational system to fill the current gaps. The quantitative analysis showed that a largenumber of students integrate formal learning with artistic activities with a certain continuity. A– 74 –